2020 free agent targets and draft picks

[DeBlazerRiddem]

I heard an interview on the radio about 15 minutes ago where olshey says, rather fired up, that the Blazers have a backup PG and his name is Anfernee Simons. The kod is going nowhere and the team will not be signing any other PG's.

Not a real surprise to anyone who has watched Olshey's method of team building, I had zero illusions about us drafting one of the many PGs in this draft. If he signs a PG its never a floor general but instead guy who is better off ball than on-ball, like Frazier, Curry or Napier. Simons fit that mold and NO is not going to get someone to compete for minutes in that same role.

Personally I think this hinders not only the development of Simons, who has to play a role that isn't natural for him, but also all the other young bench players. Having a veteran who can get them the ball in the right place helps them figure out where to be and keeps them moving. Portland doesn't get enough out of our role players because they are always picking up the scraps from score-first guards, its like a d-league mentality in some ways.

Evan Turner is the only kind-of "floor general" type player I remember Olshey signing, and that was a massive failure because he wasn't real good at that. Who knows maybe that put him off the idea while the eventual success of guys like Napier and Curry reaffirmed his belief, but I'm not talking about a guy who will get Lillard off-ball but a guy who can play spot minutes with the bench and get the most out of the other bench positions.

[GEE]

Olsheys' guns were loaded for that presser. Just saw it. His response to the backup PG question, and having one in Simons was hilarious. Also when asked about Collins, how he turned the camera and showed him working out. How ya like me now, was the feeling I got from him. I think he loves the haters out there, and in here.

I can't wait to see our team on the floor. Stotts certainly has his hands full though, figuring out how to get the most out of the massive depth he has, but I'll leave that discussion for a later time. Roster balance is key, along with load management with this upcoming condensed schedule. Lots of guys getting 18-20+ minutes a night seems like a good plan to me. Dame, CJ and Nurkic getting more obviously, but hopefully far less than last year.

All I really know about DJJ are his highlight reels and stats, and Olshey is hinting that he might start. WTH? Did not see that coming, but it does make some sense from a roster balance perspective. With Dame, CJ and Nurkic on the floor, that's alot of offense, so you add ROCO and DJJ to that for balance. Hood and Melo is a ridiculous offensive punch off the bench, with GTJ's pesky defense and Kanters getting extra possesions while feasting on opposing backup bigs. Maybe we start Hood/ROCO and bring Melo and DJJ off the bench no clue, but the options are many and crazy to think about.

For those that don't believe this is a massively upgraded roster, and a true contender... I bet you own at least one Laker jersey.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

For those that don't believe this is a massively upgraded roster, and a true contender...

I think we are pretty massively upgraded, and honestly I really like the mix of skillsets among our roster (except for a bench "floor general") buuuuuut I wouldn't go so far as a "true contender" until we really show that. Just a cart ahead of the horse type thing...

[GEE]

Beauty is DBR, we sure don't have to wait long to see. Chemistry really does still matter in this game, and we have it spades.

RIP CITY!!!

[Case2012]

Watch on YouTube

Classic olshey...

Watch on YouTube

[wco81]

Zach Lowe said he can see Portland being a #3 seed, maybe making the WCF.

Were you guys optimistic the last time NO made big FA signings? For instance, were you bullish right after Evan Turner was signed or was it obviously a big mistake from the get go?

[Village Idiot]

Zach Lowe said he can see Portland being a #3 seed, maybe making the WCF.

Were you guys optimistic the last time NO made big FA signings? For instance, were you bullish right after Evan Turner was signed or was it obviously a big mistake from the get go?

I don't think anyone here was in any way positive to the major free-agent moves Olshey made. Turner was seen as a disaster from day 1. Olshey has always done a great job drafting and building around the edges. Derrick Jones Jr. is very much a work in progress but the acquisition of Covington is for me up there with the Plumlee for Nurkic and a pick trade in terms of an obvious value move.

I haven't been this giddy for a Blazers season since we drafted Oden and had that summer of optimism dreaming about a dynasty built around Oden, Roy and Aldridge. This current team will obviously never be a dynasty but the talent, interchangeability, depth and chemistry are extremely high. I have a feeling this year the Blazers will be greater than the sum of its parts.

[Matt800]

Zach Lowe said he can see Portland being a #3 seed, maybe making the WCF.

Were you guys optimistic the last time NO made big FA signings? For instance, were you bullish right after Evan Turner was signed or was it obviously a big mistake from the get go?

I think most people were skeptical of Turner and thought he was overpaid.

I think Portland upgraded this offseason but might not have actually solved their main issue of enough 2 way players.

I think getting Covington is about as good as it gets. But they still don't have a 2nd SF that has proven to be able to hit 3s and defend. Maybe Hood or Little can, or maybe DJJ learns how to shoot, but none of those are guarantees. Which means that they still have a similar issue to the Harkless and Aminu team. Or playing guys like Carmelo, then they have a horrible defense. Carmelo isn't terrible, but the point is the forwards need to be good or great defenders to make up for CJ and Lillard.

It really would have been nice to have 2 proven 3 and D SFs. We have to hope Hood somehow is as good or better than he was, or Little makes a Gary Trent Jr type leap forward. Or DJJ can somehow go from 4 years of horrible shooting to a decent shooter after a shortened offseason. Or if everyone else around DJJ can shoot 3s then he could work. So Nurkic shooting 3s may be a factor.

All that said, I think the team is in a good position because they did get Covington, and they have a lot of guys who could be a lot better this coming season. With some luck they could be a top team, and with some adversity they could be a fringe playoff team like last year.

[red_power]

Zach Lowe said he can see Portland being a #3 seed, maybe making the WCF.

Were you guys optimistic the last time NO made big FA signings? For instance, were you bullish right after Evan Turner was signed or was it obviously a big mistake from the get go?

The possibility is there, sure.

Remember, this team finished 3rd two years ago and had reached a WCF the same year, having Aminu-Hark-Kanter as a starting frontcourt with Collins and Turner as important rotation players.
( I think it's needless to say that was a pretty mediocre sidekick)

So Zach's assumptions aren't wishful thinking. That's a quite probable scenario, although it's not written in a stone yet.
And that doesn't mean Blazers are among top favourites to win the West.

[dunlop212]

If Anthony takes the step back one reasonably expects for a player in his late 30s (especially a guy who was a matador defender in his prime), Hood comes back a lesser player, and Little and Simons don't become legit NBA players, this is a pretty unimpressive bench.

[BlazersBroncos]

For those that don't believe this is a massively upgraded roster, and a true contender... I bet you own at least one Laker jersey.

There is a huge gulf between massively upgrading the roster and being a true contender. Adding some nice role players doesnt elevate a team to contender. If you think being realistic about the way this league works is akin to rooting for the Lakers, fine. But when your 2nd best player is CJ McCollum its going to take a ton of luck and injuries to make a finals appearance. And no, this team is still nowhere near as good as the Dallas team that won it all in 2011, which is the only team since the Pistons that won without serious talent stacking of all-stars.

[whatchaknow]

For those that don't believe this is a massively upgraded roster, and a true contender... I bet you own at least one Laker jersey.

There is a huge gulf between massively upgrading the roster and being a true contender. Adding some nice role players doesnt elevate a team to contender. If you think being realistic about the way this league works is akin to rooting for the Lakers, fine. But when your 2nd best player is CJ McCollum its going to take a ton of luck and injuries to make a finals appearance. And no, this team is still nowhere near as good as the Dallas team that won it all in 2011, which is the only team since the Pistons that won without serious talent stacking of all-stars.

That’s just not true. The lakers last year didn’t have a serious talent stacking of all stars, they had 2 and bunch of middling role players. Raptors the year before? The warriors pre kd didn’t talent stack all stars unless you think dray and iggy were anything more than really good role players. Now saying Portland isn’t a contender is fine I can agree to some extent with that but don’t act like there’s only one way to win a title in this league. Miami was the 2nd best team in the league last year and had Jimmy Butler as their best player

[DaVoiceMaster]

Classic olshey...

Watch on YouTube

POW!!!

POW POW!!!

"Kobayashi"

[DaVoiceMaster]

Zach Lowe said he can see Portland being a #3 seed, maybe making the WCF.

Were you guys optimistic the last time NO made big FA signings? For instance, were you bullish right after Evan Turner was signed or was it obviously a big mistake from the get go?

Nope. I think most people were disgusted with how much Crabbe, Turner, and Leonard got. Even Turner was surprised how much he got. The Blazers had all this money and that's what they ended up with.

[d-train]

For those that don't believe this is a massively upgraded roster, and a true contender...

I think we are pretty massively upgraded, and honestly I really like the mix of skillsets among our roster (except for a bench "floor general") buuuuuut I wouldn't go so far as a "true contender" until we really show that. Just a cart ahead of the horse type thing...

Our biggest upgrade by far is a healthy Nurkic. The trio of Lillard, CJ, and Nurk is not unproven. The debate is can they be even better. They seemed to have a lot of momentum when Nurk broke his leg. As far as the rest of the team, it depends on your view of Collins, DJJ, Melo, and Hood. The addition of RoCo is great, but we have always had that niche filled, except in the bubble. We have always had Aminu, Ariza, Bazemore, or Mo, essentially filling the same role as RoCo does.

I like Collins, DJJ, Melo, and Hood. The problem is Collins still isn't ready to play and I see him as a critical piece. Ultimately, if this team is going to make it, they will do fine without Collins for a month.

This is a much improved team because Nurk is back and we have some promising new tweaks and wrinkles.

[d-train]

For those that don't believe this is a massively upgraded roster, and a true contender... I bet you own at least one Laker jersey.

There is a huge gulf between massively upgrading the roster and being a true contender. Adding some nice role players doesnt elevate a team to contender. If you think being realistic about the way this league works is akin to rooting for the Lakers, fine. But when your 2nd best player is CJ McCollum its going to take a ton of luck and injuries to make a finals appearance. And no, this team is still nowhere near as good as the Dallas team that won it all in 2011, which is the only team since the Pistons that won without serious talent stacking of all-stars.

CJ is significantly better than Mavs2011 2nd best player. Can you even name that teams 2nd best player? The Pistons were different. The challenge with that team was identifying a 1st best player. They were a team loaded with 2nd best players, but they had great leadership. Billups set the tone for that team.

[d-train]

For those that don't believe this is a massively upgraded roster, and a true contender...

I think we are pretty massively upgraded, and honestly I really like the mix of skillsets among our roster (except for a bench "floor general") buuuuuut I wouldn't go so far as a "true contender" until we really show that. Just a cart ahead of the horse type thing...

Our biggest upgrade by far is a healthy Nurkic. The trio of Lillard, CJ, and Nurk is not unproven. The debate is, can they be even better. They seemed to have a lot of momentum when Nurk broke his leg. As far as the rest of the team, it depends on your view of Collins, DJJ, Melo, and Hood. The addition of RoCo is great, but we have always had that niche filled, except in the bubble. We have always had Aminu, Ariza, Bazemore, or Mo, essentially filling the same role as RoCo does.

I like Collins, DJJ, Melo, and Hood. The problem is Collins still isn't ready to play and I see him as a critical piece. Ultimately, if this team is going to make it, they will do fine without Collins for a month.

This is a much improved team because Nurk is back and we have some promising new tweaks and wrinkles.

[BlazersBroncos]

That’s just not true. The lakers last year didn’t have a serious talent stacking of all stars, they had 2 and bunch of middling role players. Raptors the year before? The warriors pre kd didn’t talent stack all stars unless you think dray and iggy were anything more than really good role players. Now saying Portland isn’t a contender is fine I can agree to some extent with that but don’t act like there’s only one way to win a title in this league. Miami was the 2nd best team in the league last year and had Jimmy Butler as their best player

If having 2/5 top players in the league isnt stacking talent then IDK what is.

Toronto had a top 5 player and Siakiam who I would argue is better than our 2nd best guy, and an assembly of role playing talent that bests ours as well.

GSW prior to KD had a top 5 player, 2 top 5 shooters and a top 5 defender. They were in fact stacked. We dont have close to that assembly of talent. We can call Draymond a role player all we want but you look at his advanced stats and he was elite on the defensive end and consistently impacted the game there.

Miami hit their stride at a perfect time and that team had some of the most underrated talent in recent history. Their second best player is also much better than ours and taking defense into consideration its arguable that Butler is a better guy to have deep in the playoffs than Dame.

I think we improved but our roster isnt close to as good as those for aforementioned teams. The real hope that we can make a run still hinges on Nurkic.

[d-train]

I disagree that Lillard, CJ, and Nurk isn't in the same ballpark as Curry, Klay, and Green. Obviously, that GS trio is more accomplished, but it didn't happen for them without time and good health. I believe the Blazer trio has similar potential, but time is running out.

[d-train]

Blazers have a better team than Heat. The teams are similar in that both teams don't have a top 10 player. The difference is Blazers offense is geared to setup a focal point scorer. Heat take a team approach to scoring. I like the Heat system better. But, there is a reason Blazers play the system they play. We get our easy baskets off Lillard's offensive aggression. Maybe, DJJ is the ingredient that gets Blazers easy baskets and a more team oriented offense.